Syracuse University lacrosse freshman Brandon Mullins trades in one set of pads for another

Gary Walts / The Post-StandardSyracuse University lacrosse defender Brandon Mullins was the 5A football defensive player of the year in Texas in 2010.

Syracuse, NY -- There is a four-star linebacker on the campus of Syracuse University this morning, and he is about to don an Orange uniform. An Orange lacrosse uniform.

Meet Brandon Mullins, whose national letter of intent went to the office of Orange lacrosse coach John Desko rather than SU football coach Doug Marrone a year ago. Mullins will be playing close defense when Syracuse faces Hofstra and Le Moyne in a three-team scrimmage beginning at 10 a.m. Sunday in the Carrier Dome.

“I enjoy both sports a lot,” Mullins (6-foot-2, 202 pounds) said recently. “This is just the one I decided to choose. I just like it. I can’t explain it.”

He has had to try. A lot. Explaining comes with the turf when you hail from football-rich Texas and are a second-team All-American, first-team all-state and The Associated Press Class 5A Texas defensive player of the year in 2010. Among the folks seeking an explanation were Texas Tech and Boise State recruiters, who visited Mullins at his suburban Dallas high school to hear it from the player himself.

Watch him Sunday

Fans can see Brandon Mullins play when Syracuse goes up against Hofstra and Le Moyne in a three-team lacrosse scrimmage starting at 10 a.m. Sunday in the Carrier Dome. Mullins, a freshman from Coppell, Texas, plays close defense. “I definitely got a lot of that,” Mullins said, “but I just did what I wanted to do.”

What Mullins wanted to do was play lacrosse at Syracuse, so despite the wooing and peer pressure to play football in college he heeded the call of Orange defensive coordinator Lelan Rogers, a former running back at St. Lawrence University.

“I went down to watch him, and to me it was immediate,” Rogers said. “This guy’s got everything you want in an athlete. And he was a good football player. He wasn’t the 5A player of the year at the time. He was a year later. So that just kind of solidified and justified that hey this guy is probably going to be going to be a super one. And it hasn’t been a letdown at all.”

Quite the contrary. Despite hailing from a state where lacrosse is growing but is still in its infant stages Mullins made an immediate impression.

“In the fall we did our 400-yard testing, and he’s a freshman who is out in front,” Rogers recalled. “He has his shirt off and you’re looking at him saying, ‘Who’s that guy?’ I’m sure all the upperclassmen were doing the same thing, trying to keep up with him. He’s just one of those guys who is above and beyond where a lot of other kids are physically. And he’s got the body and frame where he’s only going to get bigger, stronger and faster.”

Despite shortcomings in “game sense” and communication skills – rawness SU coaches often identify in rookies – Mullins has forced himself into the picture on the sheer strength of his athletic prowess and desire.

“You take an athlete like him and put him through a practice every day and you just know things are going to happen,” Rogers said. “And he’s just getting better and better and better every day. He’s pushing. Everything he does is 100 percent. He’s progressing rapidly. The sky’s the limit for this guy. The sky’s the limit.”

Rogers has no doubt Mullins could have made an impact on a college football field. The player himself admits to watching SU football games last season “with a player’s mindset” and wondering how it would feel to compete at that level.

“But I don’t think it will happen,” said Mullins, who added he has never broached the subject with Marrone. “It’s been suggested to me before by other people, but I just think playing two sports in college would be a huge commitment. I would rather make all my commitment to one sport.”

The sport is lacrosse, and it is why a four-star linebacker from Texas is on the SU campus today. He may never stop an opposing ball carrier in his tracks in the Carrier Dome, but if early indications are accurate he will be a defensive superstar in the building nonetheless.

“He’s a freak athlete,” fellow close defender Brian Megill said. “That’s what it is. He’s one of the fastest guys on the team, and he’s one of the most agile.”

“He’s a great player, big and athletic,” senior attackman Tim Desko added. “He’s a Texas football player. What more can you ask for?”

The answer for Syracuse football fans is obvious, but they will likely never hear it.

“I think he saw the big picture and just knew and had the lacrosse bug,” Rogers said. “Sometimes you just do what you love. It’s just a passion. There is no sport better to play than the one you are passionate about.”

Although he cannot explain it – or at least has given up trying – that sport for Brandon Mullins is lacrosse.